Gas-kegttlatob



J. FOSTER.

Gas Regulator.

No. 30,399. Patented00t.16,1860.

'W'Hne sses: Inventor.

' a ywfiw W W UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH FOSTER, O1 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

GASREGULATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 30,399, dated October 16, 1860.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH Fosrna, of

v Richmond, in the county of Henrico and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Regulators; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1, is a central vertical section of a gas regulator constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2, is a plan of the same with the cover removed.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both figures.

My invention relates to that kind of regulator composed of a valve attached to an inverted cup floating in a basin of quicksilver or other fluid substance.

It consists in the arrangement of the weight by which the buoyancy of the cup is to a sufficient degree counteracted, below the cup and between the cup and the valve. And it further consists in the attachment of the guides by which the cup is kept outside of or beyond the circumference of the cup.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe it with reference to the drawings.

A, is the box or casing of the regulator having around its interior near the top an annular channel or basin a, a, to contain the quicksilver or other liquid substance in which the inverted cup is to float, and having some distance below this channel or basin directly under the center of the cup a valve seat b, below which is the inlet opening 0, for the admission of the gas from the service pipe, and above which is the outlet opening (Z leading to the burners, the latter opening (Z, being in one side of the box and the inlet 0, being in the bottom. This box or casing is essentially like that of many other gas regulators, and is provided with a removable gas tight cover G.

B, is the inverted cup made of iron or other metal and having brazed or otherwise secured firmly to it at equal distances apart, three or more guide pieces 6, e, of wire or of metal in any other form, said guide pieces having their outermost portions which are upright and stand out beyond the sides of the cup fitted to guide grooves f, f, provided in the sides of the box B. By this arrangement of the guides, the cup is kept steady without the inconvenience of guides on the top of or under the cup, which necessitate an unnecessary and inconvenient depth of box.

C, is the hollow valve stem which attaches the valve D, to the inverted cup B, and which contains the shot It, h, which constitute the variable weight for loading the cup. The valve D, is of the puppet kind and apart from its hollow stem does not differ in its mode of application from those of other gas regulators. The stem C, is composed of a piece of metal tubing having the valve screwed into its lower end in such manner as to close it and having screwed into its upper end a screw E, which passes through a hole in the center of the inverted cup, the head of the said screw screwing down on to the head of the inverted cup and drawing the upper end of the stem close up to the interior of the head. The screw E, has a hole g, directly through its center through which to insert or remove the shot one at a time to enable the load to be adjusted according to the supply of gas required.

Instead of shot, quicksilver may be used to load the valve stem or any other heavy substance in such form as to permit its insertion and removal in small quantities to adjust the load with nicety. If quicksilver be used it may be placed within the tube itself if the latter be of iron or the tube may be constructed for the reception of a small glass vial containing the quicksilver.

The operation of the regulator does not differ essentially from that of other gas regulators the gas entering at c, and raising the cup more or less and so closing the valve more or less according to the pressure on the service pipe and the quantity of gas con sumed. Its advantages consist in the convenient mode of applying the guides and the convenient arrangement and mode of applying the load on the inverted cup.

What I claim as my invention and desire inverted cup outside of or beyond the cirto secure by Letters Patent, is V cumference of the said cup substantially as 1. The arrangement of the load or Weight and for the purpose herein set forth.

on the inverted cup below the said cup and JOSEPH FOSTER. 5 between the said cup and the Valve substan- Witnesses:

GOODWIN Y. ATLEE,

tially as herein described.

- 2. The arrangement of the guides of the WM. H. BRERETON. 

